Kolkata: Alleging that the Kolkata Police pressurised a Bengali TV channel against telecast of a serial written by exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, a group of intellectuals and activists today said that it was against the freedom of speech.
Jnanpith awardee eminent litterateur Mahasweta Devi, poets Shankha Ghosh and Joy Goswami, issued protest statements saying it was a violation of freedom of speech and expression.
They also demanded that the government must ensure that the channel was able to telecast the serial immediately.
A group of minority leaders had warned the newly-launched ‘Aakash Aath' channel to abandon the telecast of the serial ‘Dusahobas' (translated roughly as living in difficulty) on the ground that it hurt religious sentiments.
Following protests, the channel postponed the serial indefinitely.
